Winter's Wings Child of The Morrigan
by NocturnalFriend
Summary: Jack Frost was a hated winter Spirit, imprisoned for something he didn't do. He was also a sixteen year old immortal teenager with the burden of being a grim reaper. Now he is asked to take up the mantle of being a Guardian. Best to start this snowball fight, before the heat of Summer approaches, eh? (REWRITE OF WINTERS WINGS) (MALEXMALE)
1. Awakening (Old Ch1 and 2)

Awakening

Jack Frost knew nothing. He had no recollection of a family, of a life, before he woke up in a frozen pond under the light of the moon.

Jack knew he was a winter spirit. He knew how to control ice and snow and how to call his friend the arctic wind. The man in the moon told him his name, but he didn't tell him what to do. What was his purpose?

It was directly after having woken up that he encountered the villagers. They couldn't see him and walked simply through him. It was this moment that made it clear to Jack: He would always be alone.

Easter 1968

Jack sang a song as he flew over the European continent to his next destination. He minded his power so it wouldn't affect the weather. The spring sprites had thrown a temper tantrum last time he hadn't had the control and for a week, there were all kind of flowers grown where it should have been impossible. It had dumbfounded the humans. Jack and the sprites had gotten reprimanded by Mother Nature for their childish fight. The seasons weren't to be trifled with, she had said.

Jack was suddenly blasted from the sky by what he guessed must have been a ball of fire. The pale skin was scorched where it was hit by the flames. He cried out in pain and crashed to the ground. As a human, he would be dead. As a powerful spirit, he broke only some ribs and bones in his body. He could feel a bruise on the back of his head and knew he got a nasty concussion. Dizzy, he saw golden eyes and a cruel smile. His attacker then.

"Well, well. What does a lowly winter bastard do in the middle of spring's season? Wanted to prolong your snow and ice to make us all suffer?" a female voice asked.

"What?" he questioned. "I was just flying through! No need to throw fire at me."

She scoffed and kicked him in the side. "Shut up! Your lies won't help you, scum!"

"I'm not lying!" What was with her? Who was she? Jack hadn't met many other spirits, so he knew not much of the others, only that there were the seasons and their sprites, the Guardians, and some other mythical figures. Tales he got from the wind sprites and the mistress of autumn.

His vision cleared and he finally got to see her. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, with her golden hair and gaze, a deep red and orange-yellow dress that seemed to burn like dancing flames, and bronzened skin. The sunflowers in her hair only added to her beauty. He had never met her, but from what he'd heard, she must be the mistress of summer.

"Don't you remember? I was there when you killed all these people in 1899. The winter was too hard, too cold. It was your fault, winter! Had you waited with the cold weather, they would have lived!"

It wasn't! He couldn't decide when to start with his season or when it was time to end the snow. His instincts simply told him to do it. All he could control was the amount of power used. He still hadn't reached full control over them and they were tied to his emotions.

Summer ignored his distress and continued.

"An entire village, destroyed. You killed them all, winter!"

"No…I wouldn't...!" he gasped in anguish.

She spat onto his form on the ground, malice in her gaze.

"I always told the council. The children of winter are a curse. You have no control. You bring death by your mere existence. Shall I prove it to you?"

And she attacked him with his flames and Jack screamed. Around him, a blizzard was forming.

Jack must have fallen uncooncious. He woke up in a drift of snow. The coolness felt good on his blistered skin. He was already healing, the open wounds nothing more than scars that would always be there. His tattered cloak was only held together by being frosted over. He felt stiff and couldn't move. A groan escaped his lips.

An angry Easter bunny broke the silence which had settled around him.

"You there! Stop this damn blizzard right now! It's my holiday and Easter is in spring! I can't have all this snow to freeze my eggs!"

Bunnymund glowered at him, his teeth chattering in the cold. His gaze looked murderous and Jack shrank into himself hiding his hurt. Nobody cared about him anyway, so he decided not to explain himself. He knew it was spring. He knew it was not okay to lose control. It was all his fault, really.

"Look kid. I can't afford to have the kids give up on Easter, because you decide to play by your own rules or got the seasons confused or something. Without them believing, I'm dead! So go to Antarctica or somewhere else, okay!"

Jack nodded, frightened by what his powers would have caused. He reigned in the storm which wasn't easy, but he shoved his feelings aside and succeeded. The Easter Bunny gave him one last murderous look and vanished through a hole in the ground which opened and closed at his command.


	2. Allies and Friends

Allies and Friends

Aki was the youngest child of the Morrigan. He'd been a normal teenager on his way to his art class when a little girl, barely five, ran in front of a bus.

Aki was too good a person sometimes. He used his athletic built to reach her in time, but there was nothing that could prevent him from being hit himself. He breathed his last that day. Aki woke up a spirit, the Morrigan smiling sadly down on him.

"My child. The Fates have given you a great burden." Were her words. Well, the Fates had some sick sense of humour then.

The Morrigan had told him to search for Jack Frost, after consulting with the Fates who to name his reaping partner. Before, he'd collected souls on his own. It wasn't often a reaper was alone on his tasks, but it had only been two years since his rebirth.

Jack Frost was a winter spirit already, so he belonged to the realm of seasons and the realm of death at the same time. Winter was for the renewal of life, the ending and rebirth of nature. It was necessary. Life couldn't exist without there being death.

Aki tapped the winter spirit on the shoulder to wake him from his nap on a sturdy tree branch. The spirit's power felt like a snowstorm, it was so powerful. Though it was tightly controlled by the other, he could feel it reach out to him as Jack startled and fell off the tree. It wasn't attacking him, but cautious, like he expected to defend himself in the next moment. Aki was a bit put out by this reaction. He knew he reeked of death for most spirits and beings not from the mortal realm, but this was intense.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Jack asked, neither friendly nor outright rude. It was defensive, like his stance. He held his shepherd's staff in front of himself, but didn't threaten Aki with it. His body was ready to shoot off to the next snowy location at any moment. Deep blue eyes regarded him in distrust. It seemed there was more to Jack Frost, than Aki had assumed.

"Please calm down, I won't hurt you." He approached the winter spirit, like he would one of the children whose time was to cross over. Jack had the same frightened look on his face. It saddened Aki. "I'm Aki, a spirit like you. The Morrigan sent me to make you an offer. Woukd you listen to it?"

His tone of voice was friendly and non-threatening to make Jack relax, and it worked. Jack was still on his defences, but at least he hadn't run off yet.

"The Morrigan? Should I've heard of her?" Jack asked.

Aki saw he needed to explain it a bit.

"She's one of the impersonations of death. I'm one of her children, if you will. My task is to find children whose time in the mortal world is up and to help their souls to find peace."

"Well, can't see what you want from me then." Jack said.

"The Fates want you to become a child of the Morrigan. It's not done often for a spirit to be offered such, but it's not a light choice who shall bear this burden." Aki told the winter spirit.

Jack seemed taken aback. He looked so young in Aki's eyes. Physically speaking, Aki was only two years older, and in actual years, Jack Frost was older than him by a decade or two. It was experiences they had had, that made the difference. Aki had seen his share of death by his profession alone. It was his sole purpose, after all.

Jack seemed like he'd lived alone for a millennia, not interacting much with anyone. Winter spirits had it hard with their season being as harsh and unforgiving as it was.

"What will happen if I accept?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"Usually, a spirit of the realm of death always goes in pairs, so we would always be together on collecting souls. You would still be a winter spirit on top of it, a being of both realms."

"I wouldn't be alone?"

Aki looked at Jack with a small smile. "I promise you, Jack. You won't ever be alone. Even if you don't accept to become a reaper, I'll still be your friend."

"I accept."

2015; North Pole, Realm of Spirits

Santa Clause lived in a castle only accessible by spirits. His name was North and despite his gruff appearance, he couldn't be any one else with his joy for new inventions of all kind of children's toys. At the moment, he was in his room and stood before a desk with an ice block on it, holding a big chainsaw. The intimidating tool was used to make ice sculptures out of an ice block. It could only be done with magic to make a little train that flew on unseen winds to the door.

Just in this moment, a yeti was coming into his office, smashing the train as the door opened. North was furious. "How many times did I say to knock?!", he yelled in exasperation. It had happened often enough for him to not be devastated over his little master pieces anymore, but still. He quite liked his creations.

The yeti said some gibberish only North could understand. His eyes widened

"The globe?"

He run out the door and drew his sword. There he had to go through a mass of nervous elves. The little pointy heads were running around like headless chicken.

Once at the control panel for the globe he saw black sand all over it. His eyes widened and an image of an old enemy formed and flew around the globe, laughing like a maniac and then disappearing along with the sand. The old drama king he was. Still, how was he here? North came out of his shock and activated with a button on the control panel the northern lights to summon his fellow guardians. It was time for a meeting. If Pitch reappeared, they had quite the problem after all.

The Easter bunny was running in his tunnels and hopped out of his rabbit hole in front of North's home.

Somewhere in the mountains of Asia, the tooth fairy was commanding her fairies, when she saw the aurea borealis on the sky. She flew right to the North Pole, a few of the fairies flying after her.

The sandman, short Sandy, was giving the kids dreams, when he also saw the lights. Like his fellow guardians, he was on his way, creating a plane out of sand and flying in the same direction as his friends. Up north.

At the North Pole, North waited for his friends to come, a yeti was giving eggnog to Sandy. Sadly, the sandman couldn't enjoy much of it, cause some elves drunk it. While his friends were squabbling about the importance of their holidays, - Bunny and North had an argument about how much time they had to prepare their ones, really, they just couldn't stop this age old fight for once, could they? - Sandy noticed some moon beams sneaking in.

Manny wanted to speak with them, so he waved his arms. Nobody noticed him. He made sand images. Again, the mute was ignored. He let out a sigh. Beside him, an elf tried to hurry away with his eggnog. He grabbed him on his hat and shook the elf, so the bell attached to the hat was ringing.

His fellow guardians FINALLY noticed him. He pointed to the moon, adding some sand images to his explanation. North chuckled. "The man in moon wants to speak with us? Sandy, why don't you say a word?" He asked in his Russian accent. The sandman had some sand coming out of his ears to show his anger. Well, he was mute for starters, of course he couldn't say a word!

"It's been a long time, old friend. What do you want to tell us?" The moonbeams hit the grounds and formed a familiar shape. The Tooth fairy gasped.

"It is Pitch." stated the Easter bunny. North faced the moon again.

"Manny what should we do?"

The moon replied with his moonbeams going all to one spot on the ground, where a crystal appeared out of the bottom. Like a humming bird, Toothiana nervously flew around the group.

"You all know what that means, don't you?" she whispered in anticipation. "He chooses another guardian."

They stood around the crystal where a shape began to form. It showed a boy with snowy white hair, wearing a blue hoodie and holding a shepherd's staff at his side. To say the guardians were shocked would be an understatement. North was the first to recover.

"Jack Frost."

"Wait a moment! You can't be serious!" the Easter bunny shouted in disbelief.

"Apparently, Manny wants him to be guardian." North argued.

"North, we all know what he did not even a century ago! He is the last one to be a guardian." Was said with disgust.

"Maybe he changed, I mean, all people change over time." The tooth fairy stated. She sounded unsure of her own words.

"Enough. We go to Antarctica and see for ourselves, 'cause if Manny wants him to be one of us, we will ask him about being a guardian." Sandy nodded his head and Toothiana agreed. Bunny murmured some not so innocent words but agreed too.


	3. A Helping Hand From Death (Old Ch5)

**I thank you all for putting up with me. Thank you. Enjoy the new chapter, it was previously a lot different but also immature...**

Chapter 3: A helping hand from Death

Aki missed Jack, ever since the other had been locked up in Antarctica. It had been years already, how much he couldn't tell. As a spirit of death, you didn't keep track of time. Death was there, every second.

The dark immortal stood before a nervous guard, the entrance to the prison just behind the other sprite's back. He should have known they wouldn't let him enter. The council of seasons had forbidden any immortal to visit the beings encarcered here. Nobody would dare to cross the council on this, in fear of their combined wrath, should they dare to.

Aki tapped his foot on the frozen ground, frowning at the guard. He wasn't very patient in all matters concerning his partner, Jack Frost.

"This is stupid. I went to Mother Nature herself, asking permission to go and see Jack Frost. Look, that's her signature on this!"

He held out the letter, detailing his request and the permission to visit Jack, her flowing signature beneath. The guard squinted at the letter suspiciously.

"That could be a fake. There was never permission granted for anybody." The guard told him.

"I'm on a deadline here, if you know what I mean." he said, only half joking. He hadn't been allowed much time from his job, the Morrigan already giving him more favours than anyone else. He didn't like this blatant favouritism of hers, but in this case, he couldn't feel bad if it meant he got to see Jack.

Before the guard could utter another word, maybe even tell him to just go, a summer spirit appeared in a flash of light. Correction: The summer spirit.

Summer Heat was known for her wonderful summers and famous around the seasonals for being the most powerful of summer spirits. As the wielder of her season, she was part of the council. She had a friendly helpful smile on her face as she looked at him, golden hair framing her face and her sunflower dress swaying in the arctic wind. He knew it was fake. She was as power hungry as a starved wolf was hungry for a piece of meat, and she had no inhibitions in getting what she wanted.

"So she granted you your wish after grovelling up to her on your knees, I heard."

"Shut up, Heat." He hissed, barely containing himself.

"What's the matter, death child? I only asked a question." She said it, like she hadn't been insulting him a second before. Then she fixed the guard with her cold eyes, which were an unnatural cold grey for a summer spirit. The guard stood suddenly straighter, a blush forming on his cheeks for being the centre of attention of the legendary Summer Heat. It was disgusting to watch.

"It's real. You can let him go in."

The guard bowed to her murmuring: "Of course, my lady. I trust your words.", and opened the portal. A long and narrow tunnel went inside the ice, deeper and deeper, from what he could see. This was it, the eternal prison of ice and darkness, serving as the ultimate punishment for a seasonal spirit who was guilty of murdering another spirit. Jack was down there. He shivered, not liking the thought of going underground, but he would endure, for Jack.

Summer vanished in a flash of light and it was only him and the guard, again. The guard didn't stop him from going inside this time. His footsteps echoed around him and the only light source came from the ice itself, where it was enchanted in some places. He came to an abyss, where the glowing ice was only sparely and stopped.

The black haired teen could see the cells which held the imprisoned spirits. There weren't many, maybe seven or eight, if he counted the huddled forms. The air was even colder than before if that was even possible. These temperatures would even affect spirits. He looked around, hoping to see a familiar mop of white hair. The last used cell proved to be the one he'd looked for. Dirty white wings could be seen huddled into a ball around the spirit.

Aki approached the winter spirit, passing through a thick wall of powerful magic that prevented the prisoners from breaking out. He would be able to leave again, because Mother Nature was the one controlling these wards.

"Jack." Aki called the other's name to get his attention. The form uncurled, feathers bent and broken on several points. They would need attending to, if Jack wanted to fly again.

Jack was a sad sight to see. His eyes glowed an electrical shade of ice blue in the near darkness, but they looked broken. The black haired teen rushed to the spirit's side and hugged him. He nearly broke down in front of the tortured winter spirit, but reminded himself to show strength for him. "I missed you." He whispered. The other didn'T say anything, probably too shocked to be spoken to in so long, to be hugged, to feel another's warmth.

The touch starved winter spirit held onto the grim reaper tightly, after noticing it wasn't just a figment of his imagination. Aki was really here!

Tears flowed freely down the winter's face, wetting the cloak and soaking it, but Aki didn't mind. He was glad to have his winter back, if just for now.

The guardians flew with the sleigh to the southern pole. Bunny looked pale and tried very hard not to think about the fact that he was flying in a contraption pulled by reindeers. Yeah, safe and nothing to worry at all, he said to himself. It's just an over a Millennia old sleigh made from painted wood. His face went green and he felt like he was going to throw up his stomach's contents.

They saw the portal to the ice caverns already open and worried. Was there a break out? North was the first out to ask the bored looking guard.

"A break out? No, no. Just this death child getting permission to visit, is all. I didn't believe it at first. No one ever visits these."

Toothiana was first in telling the guard their reason for visiting themselves. The guard looked surprised.

"Well, it must be his lucky day then. First a visit, and now this. If I were you, I would be careful though. He is a murderer, even if the man in the moon says he can help you. Be cautious and never let him out of sight!" the guard cautioned them.

All four went inside, the guards words making them uneasy.

Aki heard footsteps approaching Jack's cell and tightened his hold on the thin form of his winter. He buried his nose in the white locks, not caring about the guards seeing. He would cherish these moments he'd been granted, even if they need to forcefully remove him fom Jack. There was no guarantee he would see Jack again. Jack, who had been silent the whole time, crying into his cloak and holding onto him like he was the spirit's anchor.

It wasn't any guard, but the four Guardians of childhood. He hadn't expected them to come. He wondered for their reason to be here. He watched them from his position beside Jack, protective but open to what they had to say.

North and the other guardians looked at the child. He may be a spirit of winter, but he was still a teenager, a child in their eyes and it hurt to see him this way, all beaten up, broken. They could understand the protectiveness of the grim reaper by his side.

"He looks so….young! North, he can't be a killer! He's a child!" Tooth exclaimed.

"He's immortal like us. Appearances don't matter, Tooth." Bunny said softly, but he didn't seem to believe the murderer story either, if his softened gaze was any indication. "Let's get him out of here. I'm freezing my ears off."

The other three nodded in assent. The grim reaper stood up and took the winter spirit into his arms, mindful of the wings. His own raven feathered ones stood proud at his sides, ready to defend the treasure in his arms.

North deactivated the barrier that held the winter spirit in his cell with a crystal from Mother Nature. Wordlessly, the grim stepped trough. Together they went outside again. It was then that the grim said something.

"Thank you for getting him out of there." His eyes told them of his gratitude. "Please, call me Aki."


	4. First Impressions

**Firstly, please don't kill me! I forgot this fandom completely, hadn't even planed anything to write again but then this chapter was still on my hard drive so I polished it up to publishable state. You can blame real life for the delay and the mistakes still in it. I needed to get this uploaded before I forgot, again. I'm grateful for everyone who still reads this since the beginning of the original Winter's Wings. Thank you. I can't promise you anything though. The next chapter is going to be longer than this if I happen to write it. A flashback or two of Jack's past and the 'murder' was planned alongside the movie's actual plot/story.**

 _Chapter 4: First Impressions_

The flight back to the pole was silent. Aki never let go of the newly freed winter spirit who had cried himself to exhaustion, it seemed. The Guardians were occupied with their own thoughts. The immortal was still a teenager who had been suffering in this isolation, meant for the worst kind of spirits. Their hearts automatically went out to this child in their eyes. Spirits never aged like humans, but they could age in mind. Toothiana seemed the most affected by the paradoxical sight of Jack Frost. There didn't seem to have been any wonder, hope, or dreams in his life, she thought as she considered his small broken form. Other than the grim, who looked at the frost spirit with a soft expression that probably wasn't meant for them to see, so she averted her eyes secretly hoping that at least Aki would trust them enough for the guardians to help Jack.

At the pole, everyone went into the globe room that is, until they got something dropped onto their heads. This something had been pink glitter. The chaos greeting them could only be described as an explosion of glitter and elves. Nearly every surface was coated in it. The elves froze at the murderous stare that Santa Clause sent them. One even fell from a pile of glittering books in fright. The others stared, mouths open. Aki couldn't hold it in, he laughed at the sight of the Easter bunny sparkling like a little girl's dream unicorn.

"I like your laugh." The spirit in his arms yawned, blinking owlishly up to him. He stared at Aki for a moment. "Why are you full of glitter? _And why is it pink_?" he asked slowly, like he wasn't sure of what his eyes told him he was seeing.

The guardians had noticed Jack was awake too, and the tooth fairy flew over to them, sending the glitter on her wings everywhere, not that it made a big difference since it was everywhere already. Sandy must be the one who truly suffered from the glitter, because he was made of sand and the stuff stuck to him like glue to paper.

She slowed down as she saw him flinch in Aki's arms. She silently admonished herself for not considering that he could be afraid of them…

Aki laid the hurt spirit down on Nord's comfy sofa, the cozy cushions and blankets hazardly thrown over it enveloping Jack and making him seem smaller than his actual frame suggested. Big blue eyes looked at them verily.

"Why am I here? What do you want from me?"

His voice was soft, the voice of a teenager actually, and it sounded to the tooth fairy like a sunny winter day when the snow was sparkling like crystal: clear and soothing, the kind of voice you liked to tell you stories all day.

They had all been ready to deal with a cold blooded dark looking murderer. A second nightmare king, probably. Not this teenager with his innocent gaze on them, looking like he may faint any moment from fright. She needed to make him understand that they weren't going to hurt him.

"Hello Jack," she began the introductions. "I'm Toothiana, the tooth fairy. These are North, Sandy and Bunny." She wave in the direction of her friends who waved and smiled at the winter spirit.

"I know who you are. I just don't understand why." _Why get him out, why helping a convicted murderer, the greatest sin in their little community._ She understood his point of view, but it only added to her sadness.

"You see Jack, Pitch Black, the boogieman, is back and threatening the children. He wants the world thrown into darkness like it was during the dark ages."

"And Manny told us you were perfect for guardian!" North continued in his direct way of telling things. Tooth winced. Maybe he could have made an exception today, to ease the topic on their youngest addition. The death child looked murderous already, understanding the implications of Santa's words.

"He speaks with you?" Jack asked, looking betrayed for some reason. "Why did he never answer me if he could…. _all these years_ …" he murmured.

"They have a crystal. The moon can only contact Father Time and Mother Nature directly, but also the guardians through a crystal given by Tsar Lunar himself." Aki spoke quietly to Jack.

"Why would he want me? I'm the last option for this offer, really. You're protectors while I'm…some lonely wanderer who brings nothing but the cold and death."

His words seemed as cold as ice and were told with firm belief in what he said was true. Again, Toothiana was conflicted. No killer would speak with such regret she believed.

"Well, can't say we ain't surprised ourselves." Bunny commented.

"Please think about it Jack." Her words got a surprised look from North and a flash of sand from Sandy. Both were asking the same but she shook her head. Jack needed healing the most right now, so they could wait in making him a guardian. Aki was sitting protectively at Jack's side one wing around the smaller frame of his friend. Tooth knew she made the right decision then as she saw them both relax a bit for the first time since they'd arrived.


	5. Attack

**Look at that, I'm alive and writing another chapter. A miracle does happen sometimes. This is unbetaed and all and it may contain errors, spelling mistakes, whatever. I started chapter 6 though, so however time allows it for me to write, it'll be posted this year at least. Thanks to all readers of WintersWings, you make my day!**

 **~Nocturnal**

Chapter 5: Attack

Akira closed the door behind him. He sighed heavily, his dark feathers floating silently to the ground when he moved. He was moulting, he thought, as he stared at the dark coloured feathers around him. He sighed again, concentrating on getting the winter spirit to the bed that stood in the room. The slightly colder winter was a comfortable weight against his side. Akira laid the other onto the bed, the soft blanket contrasting in its richness of colour with the pale teen. Dark greens and reds that made up the interior gave the room festive cheer. The palette of various browns made them stand out, like black and white pictures in a photo album with only coloured photos.

Akira, finally convinced that Jack was comfortable and in deep sleep from exhaustion, went over to the window and opened it. Cold air greeted him. His deep ruby gaze swept over the barren landscape in thought. They needed to think about the future once Jack had gained his strength back. The winter was still weakened from his imprisonment. How did the old man on his rock in space think Jack would be able to fulfil the duty of a guardian?

Another sigh stole its way from his lips. He did this a lot today. His thoughts wandered back to the other guardians. They had seemed troubled as they'd seen Jack. He couldn't be angry at them for this. They didn't decide who was worthy of the role. The man in the moon never did anything to right the wrong done to Jack. He'd seen what had happened that day and still decided not to act. Akira was tired of the games the old man played. He'd protect Jack, because he'd not been able to once. This time nothing would take the winter spirit away from him.

Time for a spirit was a curious thing. Akira had no idea how long he sat near the open window, his body accustomed to the cold in the way only winter and death could be, as a panicked yeti stormed in. He gesticulated wildly for Akira to meet the guardians and clipped some decorations on the wall which clattered to the ground loudly. The noise woke Jack whose eyes snapped open to look for what had disturbed his sleep.

"Seems like the peace is over." Akira remarked drily. "Are you up to another meeting?" he asked the white haired teen, worried eyes on the shadows beneath blue eyes. Jack looked refreshed from his nap, but his slight frame still looked like he could be blown over from just a gust of wind. Despite this, the teen nodded.

"Lead the way, yeti."

The other guardians awaited them in a state of controlled chaos. Toothiana was a colourful blur overhead as she anxiously flew hummingbird-like fretting over whatever news had reached her. North saw them first.

"Good, Phil told you what happening, ya? To the sleigh then!" and he went to the toy factory with great steps, the others following. The death spirit and Jack wound their way around elves and yeti, not quite understanding what was going on.

"Wait a moment! What is going on? We only got the information of a meeting!"

"The toothpalace is under attack from pitch. The bugger probably wants the teeth."

"Why would he want the-" Jack started asking. Akira interrupted him as he slapped a hand to his forehead and stopped short.

"The memories!" he exclaimed. Finally understanding the gravity of the situation, he hurried along with newfound determination.

The ride on the sleigh had been tense, the only break Jack's idea of fun which meant giving nearly everyone a heart attack by 'accidentally' falling off the contraption. Akira had to hide a smirk behind his scarf as he heard the Easter bunny and Jack bicker. It seemed like his partner was making friends. They exited the portal of North's snow globe and found themselves in the middle of a battle field. Black sand shaped like horses galloped around them, little tooth fairies in their bellies. Akira lost no time with staring at the creatures, jumping into the air with wings spread out to catch the air currents. His scythe materialized in his hands and he cleaved the nightmare before him in two. The tooth fairies were freed, but another nightmare caught them. Angrily, he swiped his weapon at the thing. It evaded him and was soon out of reach. Akira wanted to follow but found himself surrounded by them. "Dammit!" he growled. His attacks were useless!

He folded his wings in a dive to the ground, then opening them again to change into a glide. The others had already reached the tooth palace and were exchanging words with Pitch. The bogey man was using his shadows to irritate them. Calculating the next spot where he would appear, Akira glided over to the structure. He didn't need to wait long.

Pitch appeared, ready to continue his little villainly monologue. Akira used that moment to strike. His scythe got the dark cloth, for the bogey man had sensed him. Still Akira was smug about the shocked look on the man's face.

"A child of death? Oh, that's rich!" Pitch laughed. His superior demeanor came back. "You must be really desperate to employ one of those."

"I'm acting on my own, bogey man. Your disruption means more vengeful souls in the future and, quite frankly, they're a headache to get rid of." Akira drawled, sounding annoyed. He didn't lie. If Pitch wanted the children to be sad and depressed hulls, the rate of souls that needed to be purified by him would skyrocket.

The shadows movement warned him of Pitch's next attack. He blocked the spirit with his scythe. His eyes widened as he saw himself up against a weapon not unlike his own.

"A formidable weapon, I must say. I quite like the vibe it has. I am a reaper of bad dreams after all." Pitch purred. They both jumpe back Pitch cackling at the stunned look of his opponent. The death spirit swung his weapon in a wide ark, the attack evaded by the other as Pitch rolled out of the way. He shadow jumped behind Akira who turned around in a flash, using the momentum of his scythe to follow his movement without break from its former swing. The other scythe blocked his, sparks flying from the clash of shadow sand against stygian steel.

The parted again, circling each other.

"They are right in calling you _death's child_ after all. You want to follow Frost's footsteps? Go on, _kill me_."

His yellow gaze never left him as Pitch walked back into his shadows, the words echoing ominously in the silence around him.


	6. Jamie

**Chapter 6: Jamie**

Jack was exhausted, leaning on his staff and observing the others. It was hot in India. At least for him it was. The attack on the tooth palace had weakened Toothiana and he was as worried as the rest of the guardians for her. Baby tooth perched on his shoulder, the mini tooth chirping worriedly. She'd been saved by the winter spirit and now clung to him like a magnet. He softly petted her with one finger to sooth her. She was so tiny and he was afraid to squash her if he wasn't careful. Toothiana had been relieved to have at least one of her mini teeth save and seemed otherwise occupied so she simply left her in Jack's care. It gave his own mind a distraction and he felt for the first time in too long that someone trusted him. Only Akira ever trusted him, even if he shouldn't anymore. He shook his head. Now was not the time. Later. After they got this mess solved. The bogey man had smiled too much, known too much about him, to simply retreat. He'd wanted the guardians' attention, for what? Did he steal the teeth for more than the memories? Jack sighed silently, watching Akira stand in the shade of the rocks surrounding their group from both sides. His sharp gaze followed the discussion between the guardians. North whipped out his blades suddenly, which he evaded with grace, like he'd foreseen it. He probably had, since the children of death possessed a sixth sense for such things. It made him smile. Even íf he didn't belong with them, even if he couldn't stay on Aki's side after this blew over, he would always remember the time spent with Aki and hold it close to his frozen heart.

The plan was as following: They would go and collect the teeth together. Somewhere along the way, North and Bunny made it a race about who had the most teeth. Toothiana got overly excited during their visit to India's capital city. She admitted to Jack having missed the open field work, because she was always busy ordering her mini teeth around. Jack could understand her excitement somehow. It felt good to stretch his wings again after so long and just enjoy the feeling of flying with your wings, feeling the air move around you and the wind caressing your skin.

They raced each other over several continents, finally stopping in Burgess, a little town familiar to both young spirits, because it was Jack's town with his lake. He wondered if he could be able to sneak away with Aki later. The spirit loved it when the sun was making the snow glitter like little diamonds around the frozen body of water. He'd shown him ice skating once. The whole day and night they'd ice skated on the lake.

Shaking himself out of the fond memories, he and the others met in the bedroom of a little boy, since he'd been the one to follow Toothiana inside for another tooth, the Kangaroo had appeared shortly after and Sandy and Santa had simply followed inside. They were even more socially obvious than him, it seemed. Akira only shook his head. Jack guessed the Shinigami wanted to bang it against the wall in frustration. Akira wasn't the best at dealing with others. He preferred his silent reapers because they were, well, silent. It could get lonely but there was Jack. The two had been okay together. They had had fun.

 _Crimson liquid flowing down as his eyes stared at the mangled corpse in terror…_

 _Red… so much red, painting the snow crimson with his sin._

 _Murderer!_

He closed his eyes willing the images away. Don't think about it. It was in his past and he was free, not forgiven, never forgiven, but pardoned. It was okay. He wouldn't hurt Aki, or the guardians. He wouldn't let it happen again. Not ever again.

"Everything alright?"

Jack startled. He had been so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed the dark haired reaper floating beside him. He turned his head slightly. Ruby eyes worriedly looked at him.

"I was shouting your name twice before." He said, unconcerned to anyone beside the guardians hearing him. "What's bothering you?"

He didn't want to explain how he felt guilt gnawing at him every time. The heavy fear, the lost feeling of remembering nothing, not knowing if he had done the deeds he was accused of. What if he had and would lose control?

"Nothing." He lied. A small growl slipped out, the other seeing through his lie.

Their feather ends brushed as Akira shuffled closer to lay a wing around the winter spirit. The show of comfort was coupled with a look of understanding. It told Jack that it was okay, he didn't have to say anything, not yet.

Toothiana commented on the pictures all hung up on the walls, the self drawn works of a young boy having fun outside in the snow, riding a sleigh or skating or throwing snow balls at his friends. As Jack heard this he instantly liked the boy. Hey, someone who appreciated winter! He smiled, but the smile vanished as the boy woke up and saw right through him.

He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up…

So he started riling up Bunny which was too easy, really. The rabbit was afraid of the big dog of the kid, and the ensuing chaos brought on by the chasing dog quickly got out of control. Sandy hit them all with his dream sand. Only Jack was standing after that. He saw a shadow fly outside and gave chase. He should have waited for Aki. The shadow mare was sent out by Pitch himself. He should have waited.

"Why are you fighting with them anyway?"

"You made it my fight when you stole those teeth!" Jack answered, holding his weapon before him, more in cautiousness than as a threat.

"Teeth? What do you care about the teeth?"

Suddenly, Pitch jumped to the side. They both looked surprised at the sandman who stood relaxed. When had Sandy arrived? Pitch laughed as Sandy crossed his small arms over his chest.

"Now, this is who I'm looking for."

Sandy simply made whips out of his dream sand and whipped at Pitch. They fought, Jack mostly trying to stay out of it, since the two were too fast for him and he would probably lose a wing if he intruded. Sandy got one over Pitch and smashed him into the road. Jack flew over to Sandy.

"Remind me to not get on your bad side."

"Okay! Easy! You can't blame me for trying, Sandy! You don't know what it's like to be weak and hated. It was stupid of me to mess with your dreams, so I tell you what. You can have them back."

Evil grin plastered to his face, Pitch spread his arms to the side and Jack stepped a few steps back at the oncoming avalanche of night mares.

The golden thread that was Sandy snapped. Dark nightmare sand infected the light gold dream sand as the Sandman vanished in it. Jack felt it, as the life bled away from the guardian of dreams. It was too late.

He tried nevertheless to reach him, a last ditch effort to do something. He got surrounded by nightmare though and as he got attacked with renewed ruthlessness, he knew Pitch tried to kill not only one guardian tonight. Icy cold started to radiate from his core outwards, the power of winter reacting to his fear. The blinding white of the blizzard made the nightmares screech as they were blown to dust. Shards of hardened ice shred their bodies to pieces. His fingertips had turned blue from overuse of his powers, the blue sweater coated in white frost, the cold seeping into his skin. For a short moment, even the winter spirit was susceptible to his own powers.

He fought with unconsciousness as he fell from the sky, feathers heavy with frost and frozen stiff. His magic had been completely drained. Warm hands and the familiar magic of his friend held onto him. He smiled with half closed eyes as he was caught by the death angel, the motion of the sleigh strange as he was still not used to being in the air as a simple passenger. He'd always love flying, the wind and his wings his tools to stay in the skies.

In the sky he could see only darkness, the nightmare sand blending out the starlight.

 _ **A.N.: So...I changed the style in this chapter a bit, because I really didn't want to retell the whole movie... The focus is going to lie on how Jack deals with not remembering what happened and a bit of trauma from being locked away. I'll attend university in fall, so again... lots of irregular updates and probably a new chapter by december, maybe. I can't say.**_

 _ **To all who are still with me: THANK YOU SO DAMN MUCH!**_

 _ **To the new readers: THANK YOU FOR READING THIS. YOU'RE AWESOME.**_


	7. Cold Winter

**I'm sorry this took so long and now it's more of a short interlude than a real chapter TT**

 **Life has been hard, moving out from my parents, starting a whole new chapter in life, finding work, etc.**

 **Anyway thanks for the support by leaving favourites, coments or even reading this! You're all great!**

 **As this isn't up to my normal level of content I upload these days, I apologize. I really tried to do my best.**

 **Chapter 7: Cold Winter**

 _Blood…so much blood…dripping from his pale hands, the crimson burning red against the snow._

His hands shaking he tried not to look at where it came from. The spirit was barely recognizable from whatever had been done to it.

 _The bits of flesh still stuck beneath his nails spoke of a gruesome tale…_

Tears welled up from his closed eyes as hysterical sobs shook his slender frame. He felt chilled to the bone, the normally comforting cold of winter making him shiver right now. His clothes were stained red like his hands.

 _He was a murderer._

 _It hadn't been intentional!_

 _He hadn't meant for his powers to kill anyone!_

Jack looked at the corpse. He didn't know the spirit. IT must have been an autumn sprite, from the golden brown clothes. He looked away again.

 _Murderer. Winter. Death._

 _You'll kill him someday. Your season brings death even to her children, you know._

The wind howled around him as he waited for someone to notice. They found him eventually, frozen and smiling.

"He told me he remembered something as Pitch struck Sandy with his arrow." He started calmly, needing to explain Jack's behaviour during the battle. "He has no memory of the day where he was accused of murder. No recollection at all what happened. They found him at the crime scene and simply arrested him."

Akira stiffly leaned against the wall of North's office, relaying what he knew of the events that had happened so long ago. At least, in human years.

"The way I se it, it must have been accident. Jack does not strike me as violent. Powerful, yes, but not out to destroy." North said. From what North had seen, the younger reaper wasn't violent or cold. The opposite actually, maybe a tad bit annoying the hell out of Aster, but he meant well. North saw a teenager wanting to have fun, a child who had been hurt by the world. North understood Akira's unwillingness to trust them with Jack. They had done nothing to help as a child had been convicted for maybe the wrong reasons.

"My theory still stands that he was set up. Winter spirits are hated by other seasonals. We can't do anything though, as we don't know what happened. Our priority is to make Easter a success. Without Sandy, the children are getting more and more nightmares now and he'll gain the upper hand in this fight."

The burly man nodded. He put one large hand on the dark haired immortal's shoulder. "Still, after everything we talk to Jack. Make things right with you." He said.

"You could give him a Christmas present." Akira saw the big man smile at that. Santa Clause let out a booming laugh. "He on naughty list, but will make exception."

Akira cracked a smile now, too. They both knew, Jack was proud of his record of being forever on the naughty list.

Jack was walking calmly – not sulking like Phil accused him of – through the halls of Santoff Clausen. They'd lost Sandy. He still couldn't believe it. In all his 300 years, the sandman had been there, a fixture in his immortal existence, like the moon. He'd loved to see the golden dream sand float in the night sky, a calming reassurance, before he'd no longer had the luxury of the dreams. His prison had been cut off from the sky, where dreams wouldn't reach him. He hadn't had nightmares either, but…

It had been hard, without dreams.

They'd lighted over a dozen candles for the spirit, grieving together for a friend and companion. Then, North had gotten everyone a hot chocolate, Tooth had fluttered around, still worried over her fairies, and Bunny had sat in an armchair, his ears flat to his skull and once not brandishing his sharp tongue at Jack.

Jack had sought out a place where he could look out at the freezing tundra of the North Pole, not used to be around people and confused by the vision he'd had during unconsciousness. Maybe he was remembering something, finally. The images had been blurry, the sounds like he'd been underwater. Nothing had been clear. The stench of iron had haunted him afterwards. He shuddered.

He was frustrated with his dumb brain, wishing to know that this had or hadn't been what had been. Couldn't he just remember it? Like his questions once to the moon, he was anxious to know, why?

Akira sat himself next to the depressed winter, his wing enveloping the smaller one. "Can't say I'm surprised to find you here. How are you holding up?" Akira felt the other shrug, the motion of his shoulders betraying the movement. "Okay, I guess." He answered. The death angel sighed.

"I told North."

"What did he say?" Jack asked, truly curious how the jolly man had taken the news. The dark haired teen watched the snowflakes dance outside. He was silent for a moment. Then, "They don't know what happened either."

Jack rustled his feathers with a bitter smile on his lips. It couldn't have been this easy, he thought. His hands went into the pockets of his hoodie, not for warmth – never for warmth - but to hide the trembling. Akira thankfully hadn't noticed. "I don't know what will happen without the sand man to balance things out." Jack frowned, his eyebrows drawn together, blue eyes gazing at his companion. He knew as a death angel, balance was important in the world. Akira had told him why they needed to collect the souls of humans as they died. If they didn't, the consequences would be dire.

"Someone else could do it?" he asked. Could someone else really play Sandy's role? It wasn't like it was with the seasonals or the death spirits. The sandman was unique, like the Easter Bunny and Santa. There was no successor. No one to take over if something like today happened. Had it ever occurred to anyone that even a practically immortal being could vanish? But that was Jack probably thinking too much again, his mind leading him down a dangerous and dark path, where nothing but shadows awaited him…

"I don't know, Jack." Akira said into the silence. "The others haven't given up hope yet. Let's not do so either."


End file.
